The present invention relates to ice skating devices, and, more particularly, to ice skating attachments which permit a roller skate to also function as an ice skate.
The sport or recreation of roller skating has witnessed a tremendous surge in popularity. Although this activity is still just as popular as it probably ever was among children, the recent rise in popularity has primarily been among teenagers and young adults. At the same time, ice skating has remained a very popular sport or recreation among the general public. However, enthusiasts of both sports have found the expense of purchasing both types of skates prohibitive. As a result, there is a great consumer demand for a device which permits a roller skate to also serve as an ice skate. Furthermore, there is a tremendous need for an ice skating device which is inexpensive and can be interchangeably attachable to a variety of roller skates made by different manufacturers.
The typical roller skate chassis consists of some type of foot receiving device, such as a shoe or boot, a foot plate which is mounted on the bottom or sole of the boot, and two trucks which are assembled to the foot plate. The roller skate trucks typically include the wheel axles and the wheels of the roller skate. These trucks are securely mounted on the lower surface of the foot plate by means of an action pin assembly which includes a bolt or "action pin" that is passed through the plate and a portion of the truck. The action pin passes through a planar, cylindrical portion of the foot plate called a "boss". The bottom surface of conventional foot plates is provided with two such bosses for mounting the front and rear trucks of the roller skate.
In some roller skate chassis, the action pin is "top loaded"; that is, the pin is inserted downwardly through the boss so that the head of the bolt is embedded in the plate and a nut is used on the opposite end of the bolt to secure the truck to the plate. In other roller skate chassis, the pin is "bottom loaded" since it is inserted upwardly through the truck and is screwed into a threaded hole in the boss. Thus, the head of the pin serves to secure the truck to the foot plate.
Regardless of whether a foot plate is top or bottom loaded; however, the bosses of both types of plates generally exhibit certain standard characteristics. For example, the front and rear bosses of the plate typically are inclined in opposite directions at an angle of about 10.degree. in order to facilitate turning of the roller skate. In addition, the bosses are usually about 1 inch in diameter and are spaced on the foot plate a standard distance which varies only with the size of the shoe on which the plate is mounted. That is, as the length of the shoe increases, so does the length of the foot plate and the boss spacing thereon.
In the past, there have been ice skating devices which were attachable to roller skate foot plates. Ice skate attachments of the prior art, however, generally have not been interchangeable. That is, they are not typically attachable to different roller skate foot plates. Rather, as in the device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,526,976 to Jacobs, ice skate attachments of the prior art are attachable to only one particular foot plate device. Thus, there remains a need for an ice skate attachment which can be interchangeably attached to a variety of roller skate foot plates to permit the roller skate to also serve as an ice skate.